Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- David Sirianni, Oppenheimer Holdings
Inc.’s head municipal bond trader, was fined $100,000 and
suspended for 60 days by the Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority for overcharging customers.

Sirianni marked up bonds as much as 16 percent from July
2008 through June 2009, Finra said today in a statement. New
York-based Oppenheimer also was ordered to pay a $675,000 fine
and $246,000 in restitution. The brokerage and the trader
settled the case without admitting to the allegations, Wall
Street’s self-regulator said in the statement.

“Finra has no tolerance for firms or individuals who
charge customers excessive markups,” Thomas Gira, Finra’s head
of market regulation, said in the statement.

The investigation involved 89 transactions in which the
brokerage added more than 5 percent to the cost of the bonds,
Finra said. Oppenheimer didn’t disclose the markups to its
customers, according to the regulator. The firm’s supervisory
system didn’t flag the trades for review because it looks at
same-day markups and in these cases the bonds were held at least
overnight, Finra said.

Oppenheimer altered its procedures to make sure that
customers get fair prices on municipal bonds, according to Mary
Beth Kissane, a spokeswoman for the firm at WalekPeppercomm.
Finra’s claims involve a small number of trades, she said.

Sirianni declined to comment when reached by phone.

In one instance cited by the regulator, Oppenheimer bought
Dowling College revenue bonds for 52.35 cents on the dollar on
Dec. 9, 2008, and then sold them the next day for 14 percent
more. On Dec. 11, Oppenheimer bought more securities of the
Oakdale, New York-based college for 52.85 cents and 52.5 cents,
which it flipped at a 13 percent markup.